I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 11
In the cultivation world, a few hundred years might only be the time it takes for a master to train a disciple, but tracing back two thousand years is already quite distant. Rang Cencen, a Nascent Soul cultivator barely over a hundred, couldn’t possibly know what happened two thousand years ago.
Fortunately, the jade slip of the Hundred Flowers sect contained records about Xue Qianjie.
Rang Cencen had someone fetch the jade slip, confirmed it only contained matters about Xue Qianjie — mostly secrets of the cultivation world but nothing compromising the Hundred Flowers sect — and then handed it to Changkong Zhuoyu.
Changkong Zhuoyu injected his divine sense into the jade slip and read the story of Xue Qianjie from two thousand years ago.
Just hearing the name “Xue Qianjie” made it clear it was an alias — no parents would give their child such a name. And no one knew who he really was before becoming the master of the demonic sect.
In the scant records of the Hundred Flowers sect, it seemed that from the moment Xue Qianjie became known in the cultivation world, he was already a Soul Transformation expert — a sword cultivator who forged his blade with endless slaughter, turning an ordinary iron sword he’d used since his martial days into the most fearsome weapon of the cultivation world.
It was said Xue Qianjie fed his blade daily with his blood essence {special blood infused with his life force}, and as the iron absorbed his blood, it transformed into a material called blood essence core, turning crimson all over. Every swing of his sword brought forth the cries of the imprisoned fierce ghosts. To face him in battle, one first needed an incredibly firm will to remain steady amid those wails, and then withstand Xue Qianjie’s sword strikes that came like a raging storm.
When he was at the Soul Transformation stage, no one below that stage could withstand even one strike from him. Often with a single thrust, his opponent’s soul would be devoured by the ferocious sword.
Even though he was only at Soul Transformation, not even Great Ascension experts dared face him head-on.
When Xue Qianjie reached the peak of Soul Transformation, all the demonic cultivators submitted to him. He gathered a group of demonic experts, intending to storm the demonic sect and become the foremost figure of the demonic path.
At that time, the sect master of the demonic sect was a late-stage Great Ascension cultivator, on the verge of transcending tribulation and ascending. The whole cultivation world bet on who would win this ultimate battle.
Though Xue Qianjie was strong, in people’s minds Soul Transformation still couldn’t compare to Great Ascension, let alone someone about to ascend. Few dared bet on him.
Yet who could have known Xue Qianjie did not march directly to the demonic sect, but alone with his sword, he ventured into Kunlun!
{Kunlun Mountain — the mythical sacred mountain often depicted in Chinese literature as the abode of immortals or gods; the pinnacle of the righteous cultivation world — a divine, almost unassailable stronghold.}
What was Kunlun? The site of the ancient god palace, the leader of the entire cultivation world. In lesser sects, even Foundation Building disciples were considered elite; a Golden Core cultivator could become peak lord, and a Nascent Soul could establish a sect. But in Kunlun, even outer disciples were Golden Core, Nascent Souls roamed everywhere, and Soul Transformation masters made up more than half the experts of the world.
Challenging the demonic sect master was at least possible for him, but facing Kunlun, he could not even enter its gates.
Xue Qianjie was trapped in Kunlun’s mountain-protecting great formation — an ancient divine formation. Compared to Kunlun’s formation, even the barrier formed by divine power at the bottom of Soul-Breaking Gorge was insignificant.
Ordinary cultivators who dared challenge Kunlun were usually smashed dead by the protective formation before they even reached the gates. But Xue Qianjie did not die — for some reason, the great formation did not attack him, only trapped him, leaving him unable to enter or leave. He remained trapped in the formation for twenty full years. After twenty years, he broke through the heavens with one sword, shattered the great formation, and advanced to mid-stage Great Ascension in a single stroke.
No one knew what he experienced inside the formation. They only knew that twenty years earlier, he had been a manageable demonic cultivator, but after spending twenty years inside the formation, his sword was no longer crimson — just an ordinary iron sword, devoid of blood essence core and the wails of fierce souls.
Yet even without his divine weapon, Xue Qianjie only became more unfathomable. After emerging from Kunlun’s great formation, he alone with his sword stormed the demonic palace atop Heaven-Shaking Peak, slew the demonic sect’s five great experts, and beheaded the sect master, unifying the demonic path.
Everyone thought that once he unified the demonic path, he would lead his forces against Kunlun — clearly, he bore a grudge, and now that he could break the formation, he would sweep the righteous sects and let the demonic path rule the world.
But he didn’t.
The first thing Xue Qianjie did as master of the demonic sect was to subdue all the unruly minor demonic sects, and restrain all demonic cultivators, forbidding them from committing atrocities and demanding peaceful coexistence with the righteous sects.
The demonic cultivators were dumbfounded. They had followed him because he killed mercilessly and freely — who among them wanted to live such repressed lives? Many rebelled, yet not one could survive even half a move against him. With nothing but an ordinary iron sword, he shattered countless divine weapons of the cultivation world, until no one in the demonic path dared object again.
The next thousand years were the most peaceful millennium between demonic and righteous sects. For a thousand years no great wars occurred among cultivators, and the mortals also enjoyed peace and prosperity.
During this time, Xue Qianjie visited many places, leaving legends wherever he went. He came to the Hundred Flowers sect sixteen hundred years ago. At that time, the sect thought they must have offended him somehow and prepared to be annihilated.
Yet the first thing Xue Qianjie said when he arrived at the Hundred Flowers sect was: “I just came to taste the Hundred Flowers tea.”
The sect master served him tea. The Hundred Flowers tea was useless to him, but as recorded in the jade slip, the icy Xue Qianjie revealed a faint smile when he drank it — a smile no one had ever seen before. He nodded at the sect master and said, “Good tea,” then departed.
A thousand years later, Xue Qianjie suddenly disappeared from the cultivation world. There was no news of his crossing the ascension tribulation or of his demise; only countless legends remained about this greatest expert of the demonic path.
“The Hundred Flowers sect still doesn’t know why Xue Qianjie came here to drink tea,” Rang Cencen let out a long sigh. “But his demeanor at the time was truthfully recorded in the jade slip. When he arrived, clad in blood-red robes, the flowers withered and the trees decayed wherever he passed. Sword in hand, when he encountered our sect’s Gu King, the Gu King buzzed, gathering all its strength to face the uninvited guest. But Xue Qianjie merely raised his sword slightly and said, ‘If my sword is drawn, it will not return without blood.’ After these words, the Gu King retreated into its jar and never dared come out again.
“After he left, a painter from the Central Plains who was a guest of our sect wanted to capture his appearance. He locked himself in a room, painting, burning, painting again, never satisfied — his art could not capture even one ten-thousandth of Xue Qianjie’s presence.
“In the end, he did finish the painting.”
Rang Cencen clapped her hands, and two Miao girls brought out a scroll. As it slowly unrolled, a streak of blood-red appeared before them.
“In the end, he slit his own chest with his brush, dipped the tip in his heart’s blood, and finally painted a satisfactory portrait. Unfortunately, the painting contains only Xue Qianjie’s figure — his face remains blank. The painter once said that no matter what, his skill could not render Xue Qianjie’s visage. This painting was already his limit.” Rang Cencen’s eyes were full of girlish admiration. “I hung this painting in my bedroom. Every day I look at it and can’t help but think — if only I had been born two thousand years earlier. Just to see Sect Master Xue once would be worth dying under his sword.”
When the scroll was fully opened, Li Xinglun felt a sword intent rush at him, stabbing his eyes with pain. In the painting stood a figure in blood-red robes, among withered flowers, death at his feet and graceful green mountains in the distance, making his loneliness even more striking.
Just his bearing made hearts tremble. Who knew what it would feel like to see the real person?
“To speak of it is no shame — everyone in the Hundred Flowers sect already knows this story,” Rang Cencen said, gazing at the scroll. “Before Xue Qianjie came, the saintess of our sect was allowed to marry. But after he came, no saintess has ever married, because after seeing this scroll, they all felt no man in the world could compare to Xue Qianjie. The saintess who had seen him in person betrayed the sect after suffering the Five Poisons and Three Gu Trials, taking her cultivation and following Sect Master Xue.
“When I was young, I didn’t understand why that saintess was so foolish. When I grew up and saw this scroll for the first time, I immediately understood her feelings. To see such a man, even to die by his sword, is worth it.
“After the Sect Master Xue came, our ancestor left a commandment: anyone who comes to the Hundred Flowers sect seeking Gu must trade something of equal value — unless he can drink the Hundred Flowers tea without changing expression, just like Xue Qianjie did back then. Changkong Zhuoyu, you’ve already drunk the tea, so you may choose a Gu without meeting our requirement.
“Changkong Zhuoyu?”
Rang Cencen looked at Changkong Zhuoyu, who was still staring at the painting, her voice suddenly turning odd.
Li Xinglun felt a pang in his chest and yanked Changkong Zhuoyu around. When he turned, he saw tears streaming down Changkong Zhuoyu’s face.
“Master?” Seeing his tears, Li Xinglun’s heart ached.
“It’s nothing.” Changkong Zhuoyu seemed to regain his senses, used his true essence to evaporate the tears, and shook his head. “I just, just…”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but glance back at the painting, and murmured: “I just feel that I must have had a hard time before — no wonder I severed my past.” {T___T}
Li Xinglun: “…”
Rang Cencen: “…”
Scholar Bai: “…”
Rang Cencen had just confessed her feelings to the painting of Xue Qianjie, when Changkong Zhuoyu immediately took such a huge liberty with her. Even if she liked his looks, she didn’t believe he could compare to Xue Qianjie. She snapped angrily: “Changkong Zhuoyu, what makes you think you are actually Sect Master Xue? You people from the Central Plains have a saying — talking nonsense in your sleep — that must be about you!”
Changkong Zhuoyu shook his head, looking utterly certain: “No need to think. I am definitely the one who disappeared a thousand years ago, severed my past to survive the death tribulation — Xue Qianjie. Look at my unmatched aura — who else but Xue Qianjie could match my identity?”
Li Xinglun: “…”
It was over. This lofty senior finally broke character completely.
~ Chapter End ~
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